So, because I was up early yesterday for work, I also got to come home early, which meant that I was the one who met the school bus when the Monster returned.

We have a daily procedure pretty down pat with the Monster – coming home from school means coming inside, going to the bathroom and changing into training pants (he wears pullups on the bus), and then sitting down to do homework before he gets hungry and grouchy.  Of late, that’s carried through dinner (with a second potty trip) and his insisting on going to bed sometime before 7 PM.

So it was a surprise yesterday when he got off the bus, and announced to me that he wanted to “go to the car”.  In this case… the car being the plastic car that he has in our front yard, just so he could push around in it for a few minutes.  It took me that long to dislodge him from it to make sure he hit the bathroom before he wet himself.

After we’d gotten his homework done, the wife decided to let him deviate from his schedule, especially in light of the fact that the weather’s turning disgusting this weekend.  (Even as I type this, it’s getting cloudier outside, and is decidedly unpleasant for playing around.)  She offered to take him to the playground and let him run around for a bit before dinner, while I stayed home to watch the baby and eat – Thursdays are my activity night, so I was due to leave the house before the rest had dinner.

When she returned, she had an interesting story for me.  As I’ve mentioned previously (in Other Progress), his teacher’s reported to us that he’s gradually being more social when it comes to the other children.  The wife saw this in action on the playground, apparently – he’s now saying hi to children his own age without prompting, and moving into position so that he’s making sure they can see him.  Whether or not he’s making eye contact, she didn’t mention, but I think the fact that he’s initiating any social interactions is a definite positive.

Of course, there’s the little side-issue, where it intersects with the fact that he’s very into hugs and kisses… and that he’s sensory-seeking when it comes to hair.  Apparently, aside from being affectionate, he also was walking up to another child to play with her hair, which is probably not a good thing in public.

We’ll see how it goes today, with the company holiday party.  There should be a lot of children his age for him to interact with…